Awards and citations:


1997: Le Prix du Champagne Lanson Noble Cuvée Award for investigations into Champagne for the Millennium investment scams

2001: Le Prix Champagne Lanson Ivory Award for investdrinks.org

2011: Vindic d'Or MMXI – 'Meilleur blog anti-1855'

2011: Robert M. Parker, Jnr: ‘This blogger...’:

2012: Born Digital Wine Awards: No Pay No Jay – best investigative wine story

2012: International Wine Challenge – Personality of the Year Award




Showing posts with label Ampelidæ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ampelidæ. Show all posts

Wednesday, 16 April 2014

After a wasted year Frédéric Brochet (Ampelidae) takes over Haut-Poitou Co-op


Frédéric Brochet@Ampelidae 
September 2013 during the vintage 

 Current premises of the Cave du Haut-Poitou in Neuville



The abandoned old coop winery premises 

 just down the road from current premises

Late last September we dropped in to see Frédéric Brochet at Ampelidae during the vintage. He told me about the Coop's financial problems and the rescue plan that he and his backers had to put together. Although it was approved initially by the members of the cooperative, it fell foul of local politics and jealousies and the the agreement was rescinded. Ampelidae made wine for some of the coop members in 2014 and the Haut-Poitou coop went into administration – officially confirmed on 20th November 2013. 

At the time I covered the story on Les 5 du Vin here.

It proved impossible to find a buyer until on 28th March 2014 the Tribunal de Grande Instance at Poitiers accepted an offer from Brochet and Ampelidae to take over the Coop. The offer is worth 2.804 million euros with 900.000€ immediately. The Ampelidae offer was preferred to one from Vins et Fruits  makers of fruity wine cocktails in Châtillon-sur-Thouet. Had the bid from Vins et Fruits been successful I assume that the grapes from the remanining members of the coop would have been used to make base wine for the expanding market for fruity wine cocktails.
 
News stories about Ampelidae's successful bid:

Haut-Poitou La Coop reprise par Ampelidae
Story by Patrick Touchais 1.4.14:
'Frédéric Brochet, vigneron et négociant dans la Vienne, a repris la cave du Haut-Poitou, criblée de dette. Il se dit prêt à travailler avec tous les anciens coopérateurs qui voudront lui livrer leur récolte.

Tout ça pour ça ! Le tribunal de grande instance de Poitiers (Vienne) vient de confier la cave du Haut-Poitou à Ampelidae. En septembre, Frédéric Brochet, le gérant de cette entreprise basée à Marigny-Brizay, avait fait une offre de reprise de la coopérative. Malgré un niveau d’endettement élevé, qui aurait été apuré par cette opération, les adhérents avaient repoussé son offre. Entre-temps, la coop a été placée en redressement judiciaire.

Read more at http://www.lavigne-mag.fr/actualites-viticulture-vin/haut-poitou-la-coop-reprise-par-ampelidae-86378.html#IWZ6ptOiL1VEuhxA.99'

Also here from Charente Libre.


It is unfortunate that best part of a year has been wasted for those producers who decided not to go in with Ampelidae last autumn. In the 1980s and early 1990s the Cave du Haut-Poitou was a success story – hopefully under Ampelidae there will be a return to more positive times.

Sunday, 29 September 2013

2013@Ampelidae in Haut-Poitou


Frédéric Brochet (centre) with part of son equipe
including Kate owner of Château des Roches 
where the wines are made

Part of winery@Château des Roches

On our way back from the Fiefs Vendéens we dropped in on Frédéric Brochet's Ampelidae operation in Marigny-Brizay (Haut-Poitou). I hadn't made an appointment but Jérémie Mourat thought they would have started picking so  I thought it would be worth turning up to find out how things were going.

They started picking here on Friday with Sauvignon Blanc. They also attacked the Chardonnay very early on Saturday - the picking machine getting underway at 5am, some 20 kms away from Château des Roches where the wines are now made. 

François who takes the early shift on the picking machine
starting well before daylight. He supplies Ampelidae with grapes from 25 ha

Philippe supplies grapes from 4 hectares 

Frédéric and his team have 107 hectares to harvest, so in a vintage that is looking delicate because of the rapid spread of rot, at least for the early varieties, the picking machines will be operated almost without a stop.

We had never visited Ampelidae before nor the Haut-Poitou vineyards. Although they are only about an hour and half from Epeigné-les-Bois, they are out of our normal line of travel, which is up and down the Loire mainly along the line of the A85 autoroute. 

Because of the disruption to small local roads, it took a while to find Frédéric's base at the Manoir de Lavauguyot about two kilometres from Marigny-Brizay. Here I was told that Frédéric was out looking at the crop in the vineyards and that we would probably find him at nearby Château des Roches.
 
Arriving at des Roches we met Kate Meuli, owner of the château with her husband Benji, since 1990. In 2004 they were able to buy the farm – 500 acres including 25 hectares of vines – and the buildings attached to the château. They entered into a partnership with Frédéric Brochet, who transferred his wine-making facilities here. 

Frédéric was supposed to return around 1pm, so Kate kindly invited us to join them for the workers lunch. which was extremely good as it is prepared by a former chef at the Fauchon restaurant in Paris. Frédéric used to be the wine consultant for Fauchon. L'Heure Brochet is rather different from customary time as he returned at 2pm.  

Frédéric reported that rot was spreading rapidly in the early varieties – you could almost see it developing as you watched. He also talked about the developments over the Cave de Haut-Poitou in nearby Neuville, which has long struggled with its debts, which have now reached 3.3 million euros. Having rejected a plan to go into partnership with Ampelidae, the Cave went into administration on 18th September. Out of 40 members of the co-operative, who own 250 hectares of vines, 16 with 93 hectares of vines have just signed this week a three-year contract with Ampelidae. The 16 will deliver their grapes to the coop as usual and Frédéric and his team will make the wine there as there isn't sufficient capacity at the Château des Roches and also Ampelidae is organic, so they need to vinify non-organically produced grapes elsewhere.  Whether Frédéric will have the use of the coop's facilities next year remains to be seen.

 Cave du Haut Poitou (above and below)


 My post for Les 5 du Vin this Tuesday will cover this story in more detail.           

Sunday, 23 October 2011

Armance B – a sparkler from Frédéric Brochet (Ampelidae, Haut-Poitou)

Armance B. from Frédéric Brochet

After a lengthy excursion into Italy for the 4th edition of the European Wine Bloggers' Conference, it is time to return to this blog's roots – so it is back to the Loire.

Armance B. is a sparkling wine, made by the méthode traditionnelle (ie bottles fermented). This is a blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Folle Blanche (Gros Plant in the Pays Nantais). It spends a minimum of 17 months on its lees. It sells for 7€ at the domaine and will be between 8€-12€ in a caviste. Armance has a soft, commercial style and would be a good option for a wedding or other celebration where the hosts want a decent sparkler that will please many without have to pay the price for Champagne. 

For my taste the dosage on Armance B is too high and I prefer a sparkling wine with less sweetness but I can see its commercial attraction.



 

Monday, 22 August 2011

2011: Loire vintage news – picking at Ampelidae and Clos Roche Blanche this week

2010: Sauvignon Blanc@Clos Roche Blanche

Following the sunny and dry weather from March through to early-mid June, things have been more complicated subsequently. Grape maturity for some vines became blocked due to the early drought, and the cold and wet July together with a fairly cool August had set the vines back. However, the last week or so has been hot with temperatures going over 30˚C so, for some, the vintage has now come forward again.

Frédéric Brochet (Ampelidae, Poitou) will start picking his Chardonnay for the sparkling wine on Thursday (25th August) and Didier Barouillet has just recently informed Catherine Roussel the 2011 Clos Roche Blanche (AC Touraine) vendange will start on Friday, so Catherine is now busy assembling her band of pickers so that they can be ready to start on the Sauvignon. "The alcohol degrees are not high," says Catherine, "but the acidity levels are dropping."

In 2010 they were still picking their Sauvignon on 20th September, so 2011 is going to be around three weeks earlier.


Wednesday, 20 April 2011

Two more portes ouvertes: Bablut (Brissac, Anjou) and Ampelidæ (Poitou)

Christophe Daviau (Domaine de Bablut)
Saturday April 23rd, Sunday 24th and Monday 25th: Portes Ouvertes  Domaine de Bablut, Brissac-Quincé

**
Saturday 30th April and Sunday 1st May: Ampelidæ, Manoir de Lavauguyot, 86380 Marigny-Brizay